Voices.com

Transcript of Getting The Perfect Voice

Julie-Ann Dean: Welcome to Voiceover Experts brought to you by Voices.com, the number one voiceover marketplace. Voiceover Experts brings you tips, pearls of wisdom and techniques from top instructors, authors and performers in the field of voiceover. Join us each week to discover tricks of the trade that will help you to develop your craft and prosper as a career voiceover talent. It's never been easier to learn, perform, and succeed from the privacy of your own home and your own pace. This is truly an education you won't find anywhere else.

This week Voices.com is pleased to present Debbie Munro.

Debbie Munro: Men VS Women: Making the Ugly Face. Ladies, do you even know what I'm talking about? Why would I compare men versus women in voiceover? Well, one of the main reasons is men seem to get a little more work, depending on what field you're looking into. In animation specifically men seem to dominate this world as far as voice talent go. So, for every animation you have two token females and about ten males, so why is that? Well, there's a couple different reasons for it. I'm not saying I have all the answers here but my guess is this, first of all I don't think we have a lot of female writers writing animation. That would be one of the biggest red flags of why more men are hired then women. Of course we do have animations like Powerpuff Girls and Barbie and things like that, that do offer a lot more voice opportunities for ladies but for the most part women don't seem to get as many roles.

So, in my career I decided to start really paying attention to this and seeing why this might be, so besides the writing situation which I think is a very paramount. I started sitting on sessions, instead of being just the talent in the room, I decided to remove myself on that position and watch. So, I contacted a few casting directors and asked if I could sit in on a session, I highly recommend that by way. If you want to take on animation and other projects, why don't you contact produces or casting directors or directors if you know them and see if you can watch an animation being recorded. There's so much to learn in watching.

So, as I did this, I started watching what the guys did compare to what the girls. Now, those of you who've ever taken a class with me, you'll probably heard me say this but I believe that if it wasn't for a woman and at some point in your life of course there is exceptions to every rule. Girlfriend, mom, whatever, grandma telling you not to burp, not to fart, not to do all those crazy things in public. Wouldn't just still being doing it and perhaps you're still are, who knows and I know some of you men are saying, "I don't know Debbie. I know some women". I know. I know some too.

However for the most part as a majority, women are extremely judgmental of themselves. Women don't seem to judge men as much as they judge other women really. Now men you're not off the hook here, you're also ruled by ego. Your ego though is reflective of what you have and what your worth is. You know, what do you do for a living, are you a breadwinner? That's the ego that you guys put on each other, that you judge each other from.

As women it becomes, "Did you see what she is wearing? Eww! I can't believe she did that, oh slut", you know, whatever. We hear it mostly in high school of course but it does carry on us, most of you ladies know and I'm sure your men would attest too. So, why is that and how can we change that? Well, first of all women are condition to judge how they look. Therefore they won't take the risk to look ugly. Why would you want to look ugly? Well, imagine what I look like right now when I talk to you like this. Okay my chin is tucked in, I just look like an ugly person, well okay not an ugly person but I'm making an ugly face for me. For me what feels like an ugly face, I'm tucking my chin into my chest and its just sounds not very funny but as the same time it gives me texture, it gives me dimension and it makes me real.

So, you have to learn to adjust you way of thinking ladies to get that ugly face to come out especially in animation but even right now when I'm giving you sarcasm like that. Well, there's still something you need to do with your face, even in commercial that can just add to the layers that you need to create to take more risk. Ladies you have to take risk to look stupid. To be quite honest that's what we do. We don't sit in this boots and worries about what we look like. In fact you have to let go and literally become whatever that character looks like. If that character has a funny look then you have to portray that funny look physically, so that you can hear it in your voice.

Do you ever notice how some people look like their voice? Some don't, there's always exceptions to every rule as I said but some people look like their voice and there's a reason for it. It's their mannerisms. The way they hold their body, as Bob Bergen says, those of you who don't know Bob Bergen. He is the voice Porky Pig and Tweety and then Robot Chicken and ton of other stuff and my absolutely favorite mentor. As Bob says, "Physicalize first and the voice will follow".

At onetime when I was doing animations there was a lady who came here, her name was Morin and she was dressed in purple from a head to toe. Now that's my favorite color but I'm talking the head to toe here, Peter Pan getaway shoes, I mean she just look like the zaniest, craziest character. I loved her look personally. I just thought it was unique and she made a statement and I really like here. She has those cat eyeglasses, that really short spiky hair. See of you can start getting a picture of what Morin looks like. When Morin came into the studio, she put her hands way up high in the air and then stood at the mic.

So, first of all I was judging her right away by going maybe not in a negative way but I was putting my female judgment on, going oh man, she's s a wacky isn't she? Then she goes to the mic and looks even wackier by putting her hands in the air. I later asked her why she did that and it was because she's so active and so physical, her hands will hit her close or her arms will hit her close and make unwanted noise. So, really she was prepping correctly and she wasn't worried, not one bit about what any of us thought of her. We learned a lot from her that day and I don't even know that we knew it at that time. When she voiced, she became every single character physically. She took them on and her face would be scrunched up or whatever she was doing, it was a scrotchy old nurse I believe and her face would just get a little evil, well what I said to you, this is what you want. I'm not saying that's her voice but for me to have done that, I had to get a scrotchy little face going.

Ladies you've got to take the risk of make an ass of yourself literally. Men do it. Okay, I'm trying to insult you honestly. You men do, you'll take that risk. You don't worry about what we think of you at that point, that's what us ladies need to learn how to do a little more so that we can match up to what this men are doing. Watch an animation if you can, you're going to learn so much by watching this men and this ladies in action, who can really take it to another degree, another level you didn't think of. A lot of people want to get in into animation. Well, there's one of your biggest tricks. Take risks. You're going to have to do that in commercials, in narrations. There's a lot of things you need to do and you're going to hear that so commonly, take risks, take risks.

Remember risk can fail but if you're taking a risk they're at least paying attention and that's half of the battle. I hope just this little bit of information will help you to understand what we mean when we say make the ugly face. Every time I give you that kind of a voice, I am making the ugly face and finding a different phase that makes me more characterized. That gets me away from being Debbie Munro and puts me into someone else's shoes.

Until next time everybody. If you like to hear more from me, I have more podcasts, newsletters, we loved to have you onboard on our mailing list. Please check us out online at www.micnme.com, that's M-I-C-N-M-E.com or debsvoice.com.

Julie-Ann Dean: Thank you for joining us. To learn more about the special guest featured in this Voices.com podcast visit the voiceover expects show notes at Podcasts.Voices.com/VoiceoverExperts. Remember to stay subscribed.

If you're a first time listener, you can subscribe for free to this podcast in the Apple iTunes Podcast Directory or by visiting Podcasts.Voices.com. To start your voiceover career online go to Voices.com and register for a voice talent membership today.

Links from today's show:

Debbie Munro
Debbie Munro's Voices.com Website

Your Instructor this week:

Voice Over Expert Debbie Munro

By employing over a dozen years wisdom in voicing and acting, Debbie Munro puts her talents to work to meet the challenging demands of today's fast paced voice market. Tired of not receiving constructive feed back on how to improve her craft, Debbie set out to make a difference for actors by creating, The MIC & ME Workshop Series. Keeping focused on the Global Freelance market, Debbie has combined her extensive Voice Over, Acting and Off Camera training into a series of practical, exciting workshops that will take you to that next step, no matter what your level.

Fueled by experience, talent, and unbridled enthusiasm for doing what she loves to do best - getting behind a microphone and speaking her heart out, Debbie is proud to share her insights, techniques and secrets with you. She works very hard to create courses that shed an honest look into the world of voice acting allowing you to work at your own pace, know if this is the industry for you and how to keep working. Her passion alone will engage you and give you the encouragement you need.

Did you enjoy Debbie's episode? Leave a comment with your thoughts!